Amazon Closes $8.45Bln MGM Studio Acquisition

MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment. (Reuters)
MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment. (Reuters)
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Amazon Closes $8.45Bln MGM Studio Acquisition

MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment. (Reuters)
MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment. (Reuters)

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it had closed its $8.5 billion deal to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) media company, combining the fabled moviemaker with the online retailing giant as it looks to draw consumers through more streaming video

A press statement said the storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers.

“MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment, and we share their commitment to delivering a broad slate of original films and television shows to a global audience,” Amazon Studios and Prime Video senior vice president Mike Hopkins said in a statement.

The pact was first announced in May 2021 and has been winding its way through the regulatory process.

The European Commission, which rules on competition issues in the EU, said in a statement Tuesday that the proposed transaction would raise "no competition concerns" and "cleared the case unconditionally."

This is the second-largest acquisition for Amazon after purchasing Whole Foods.

The purchase of the movie and TV studio behind iconic films like the James Bond franchise, Rocky, The Silence of the Lambs and Legally Blonde is just the latest in big-name media and streaming-service mergers.

In August, the Federal Trade Commission received a letter from the Strategic Organizing Center, a democratic union federation representing more than 4 million workers in the Service Employees International Union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Communications Workers of America and the United Farmworkers.

The group argued at the time that the approval of the deal would help Amazon suppress competition in the streaming market.

FTC noted that the agency has the latitude to file a legal challenge even after the parties have closed a transaction.

“The FTC does not comment on any particular matters. However, we reiterate that the Commission does not approve transactions and may challenge a deal at any time if [the agency] determines that it violates the law,” FTC spokesperson Betsy Lordan stated.



World Bank Warns that US Tariffs Could Reduce Global Growth Outlook

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
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World Bank Warns that US Tariffs Could Reduce Global Growth Outlook

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP

The World Bank on Thursday warned that US across-the-board tariffs of 10% could reduce already lackluster global economic growth of 2.7% in 2025 by 0.3 percentage point if America's trading partners retaliate with tariffs of their own.
Such tariffs, promised by US President-elect Donald Trump, could cut US growth - forecast to reach 2.3% in 2025 - by 0.9% if retaliatory measures are imposed, the bank said, citing economic simulations. But it noted that US growth could also increase by 0.4 percentage point in 2026 if US tax cuts were extended, it said, with only small global spillovers.
Trump, who takes office Monday, has proposed a 10% tariff on global imports, a 25% punitive duty on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamp down on drugs and migrants crossing borders into the US, and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods.
The World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospect report, issued twice yearly, forecast flat global economic growth of 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, the same as in 2024, and warned that developing economies now faced their weakest long-term growth outlook since 2000, Reuters said.
The multilateral development bank said foreign direct investment into developing economies was now about half the level seen in the early 2000s and global trade restrictions were five times higher than the 2010-2019 average.
It said growth in developing countries is expected to reach 4% in 2025 and 2026, well below pre-pandemic estimates due to high debt burdens, weak investment and sluggish productivity growth, along with rising costs of climate change.
Overall output in emerging markets and development economies was expected to remain more than 5% below its pre-pandemic trend by 2026, due to the pandemic and subsequent shocks, it said.
"The next 25 years will be a tougher slog for developing economies than the last 25," World Bank chief economist Indermit Gil said in a statement, urging countries to adopt domestic reforms to encourage investment and deepen trade relations.
Economic growth in developing countries dropped from nearly 6% in the 2000s to 5.1% in the 2010s and was averaging about 3.5% in the 2020s, the bank said.
It said the gap between rich and poor countries was also widening, with average per capita growth rates in developing countries, excluding China and India, averaging half a percentage point below those in wealth economies since 2014.
The somber outlook echoed comments made last week by the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, ahead of the global lender's own new forecast, to be released on Friday.
"Over the next two years, developing economies could face serious headwinds," the World Bank report said.
"High global policy uncertainty could undercut investor confidence and constrain financing flows. Rising trade tensions could reduce global growth. Persistent inflation could delay expected cuts in interest rates."
The World Bank said it saw more downside risks for the global economy, citing a surge in trade-distorting measures implemented mainly by advanced economies and uncertainty about future policies that was dampening investment and growth.
Global trade in goods and services, which expanded by 2.7% in 2024, is expected to reach an average of about 3.1% in 2025-2026, but to remain below pre-pandemic averages.